Synergistic Self-Knowledge Proposed as Consciousness Signature
A recent preprint on arXiv (2605.13884) introduces the concept of "uncommon self-knowledge" (USK) as a formal standard for defining consciousness. This is characterized as the synergistic information a system possesses about itself, which is only present in the combination of its subsystems and is lost when those subsystems are separated. The proposed framework builds on Gottwald's partition-lattice approach to Partial Information Decomposition (PID), linking redundancy to Aumann's common knowledge and synergy to the difference between individual and collective observation. If validated, this framework could distinctly differentiate consciousness from metacognition (synergistic versus redundant self-knowledge), address counterexamples to IIT, GWT, and HOT, and yield unique empirical predictions through Partial Information Rate Decomposition (PIRD) with self-targeting.
Key facts
- arXiv:2605.13884 proposes uncommon self-knowledge (USK) as a candidate criterion for consciousness.
- USK is defined as synergistic information a system carries about itself that exists only in the joint of its subsystems.
- The framework draws on Gottwald's partition-lattice grounding of Partial Information Decomposition (PID).
- Redundancy in PID corresponds to Aumann's common knowledge.
- Synergy in PID corresponds to the gap between separate and joint observation.
- The framework would separate consciousness (synergistic) from metacognition (redundant).
- It claims to resolve counterexamples to IIT, GWT, and HOT.
- It is operationalizable via Partial Information Rate Decomposition (PIRD) with self-targeting.
Entities
Institutions
- arXiv